GROUNDWATER Myanmar
(some)
ျမန္မာႏွိင္ငံေျမေအာက္ေရအေၾကာင္းတေစ့တေစာင္း
Write-up
by
Myint Thein
Consultant, Groundwater & Wells (Freelance)
HYDROLOGIC CYCLE & GROUNDWATER
MYANMAR
2
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DISTRIBUTION OF H2O ON EARTH
Total water =100%
Sea water = 97%
Fresh water = 3%
Subdivided freshwater
Icecaps
& = 68.70%
Glaciers
Groundwater =30.10%
Surface water = 2.20%
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P = RO + I + ET
• P = PRECIPITATION
• RO = RUN OFF (ALL SURFACE FLOW)
• I = INFILTRATION (GROUNDWATER)
• ET = EVAPO-TRANSPIRATION
Data Source: Department of Meteorology and Hydrology
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UTILIZATION OF GROUNDWATER
Living Engineering Recreation
Drinking Cooling Waterfall
Photosynthesizing Heating Spring
synthesizing Cleaning
Respiring Flushing
Metabolizing Irrigation
Industry
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Average
Annual
Precipitation
In
Myanmar
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GROUNDWATER
1. Water contained in spaces within soil,
bedrock, and regolith
2. About 1% of all Water (H2O )on Earth
3. 40 times more abundant than water
found in lakes, rivers and streams
4. Groundwater moves so slowly.
5. It is stored in the earth and remains
available even in dry periods.
6. Surface water is exposed to evaporation
whereas ground water is not.
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GROUNDWATER (continue)
7. Groundwater maintains a constant
temperature, whereas the temperature of
surface water alters according to the
surroundings.
8. Some think that groundwater contains less
contaminants. All the contaminants present in
the surface water are also seen in
groundwater. Generally groundwater is
considered a clean water source
9.Ground water is free from pathogenic
organisms such as salmonella and malaria.
The study of groundwater and its effects is called Hydrology.
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Where Do We Find This Groundwater ?
Zone of aeration: portion of soil and rock
near the surface in which open spaces are
filled primarily with air (vadose zone or
unsaturated zone)
Saturated zone: zone in which pore spaces
are filled with water
Water table: boundary between zone of
aeration and saturated zone
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Porosity and Permeability Soils and rocks
Porosity: portion of volume of a material that
consists of open spaces
Permeability: measure of the speed at which
fluid can travel through a porous medium -
how well pores are connected
(Imagine two vertical pipes, one filled with
gravel, one with sand. Which one will produce
water flow faster?)
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RATES OF GROUNDWATER
MOVEMENT
• Slow to very slow (depending on
permeability)
Generally within the range of 10 to 100 cm
per day 0.33ft /day to 3.33ft/day
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Example:
Groundwater
flow pattern
in some region,
Central
Myanmar
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GROUNDWATER STORAGE
Aquifer: body of rock that is sufficiently water
permeable to yield economically significant
quantities to wells and springs
Aquitard: body of rock that retards but does not
prevent flow of water to or from an adjacent
aquifer
Aquiclude: body of relatively impermeable rock
that is capable of absorbing water slowly but
does not transmit it rapidly enough to supply a
well or spring
Spring: Locations where a perched water table
intersects the ground 19
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Unconfined aquifer
during wed period
Unconfined aquifer
during dry period
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Spring
Glossary: Locations where a perched water table intersects the ground
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TYPE OF AQUIFERS AND GEOLOGIC UNITS
- Alluvial Majors in Major aquifers,
- Irrawaddian Ayeyarwaddy dominate in
- Peguan Country-wide
- Limestone Mostly occur in Eastern Region of
Myanmar
- Igneous and other minor Aquifers.
The aquifers has disparities in quality according to
depositional environments. Of these aquifers groundwater
from Alluvial and Irrawaddian aquifers are more potable for
both irrigation and domestic use.
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Sr.
Name of Occurrence
No. Major Rock Topographic
the of
Units Region
Aquifer Groundwater
1 Alluvial Sands, gravels, Major river Fresh
and muds basins and its Groundwater,
tributaries, base seasonal water
of mountains table changes
and ranges
2 Irrawaddian Mainly sands, Central Lowland Thick aquifer,
Sandstones and Rakhine fresh
with gravels, Coastal Plain groundwater with
grits, siltstones, high iron content
and mudstones
3 Pegu Group Sandstones, Central Lowland Mostly saline &
siltstones and Rakhine brackish water,
and shales Coastal Plain some fresh
water in
recharged areas
4 Eocene Sandstones, The periphery of Probably GW
Aquifer Siltstones, and Central Lowland Source with
Shales reasonable yield
5 Flysch Interbedded Western Probable
Aquifer units of sand, Ranges groundwater
siltstones, source area, less
shale, and yield
mudstone
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6 Cretaceous Flysch units and Western Ranges To study in detail
Aquifer limestone units
7 Kalaw- Pinlaung- Lashio Loi- an Group & Kalaw The western boundary of To study in detail; some private
Aquifer Red Beds Eastern Highland and wells are discharging
Tanintharyi ranges reasonable yield
8 Plateau Limestone Limestone & dolomite Eastern Highland Groundwater is being
Aquifer extracted in some places
where structural feature such as
fractured zones
9 Lebyin- Mergui Graywacke, quartzite, argillite, slate, Western boundary To study in detail; private wells
Aquifer mudstone, gravel etc; of Eastern Highland are discharging but proper
and Taninthari ranges records; less / moderate yield.
10 Cambrian- Silurian Molohein Group Pindaya Group Eastern Highland To study in detail
Aquifer Mibayataung Group
11 Chaungmagyi Aquifer Low grade metamorphic Eastern Highland To study in detail
(Precambrian) rocks
Aquifer type and geological units are explained in the above
tables related with hydrogeology & groundwater occurrences
and geology and Hydrogeological potentiality of Myanmar
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MAJOR AQUIFER UNITS IN CENTRAL MYANMAR
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LARGE AND SIGNICIFICANT AQUIFERS
(Monywa Sub-basin and Pale Sub-basin)
- Two major groundwater basin (aquifers): overflowing wells
- One is located at the alluvial plain of the lower Chindwin called
Monywa Sub-basin. The basin, geologically, is located along
the Central Volcanic Line and in the southwest corner of the
Shwebo- Monywa Basin of the Eastern Trough. Estimated
dimension of the basin is larger than Pale –Yinmabin three
times
- Other one, Pale sub-basin, lies within Yinmabin and Salingyi
Townships; both are in the Sagaing Region. Estimated
dimension of the basin is 32 ×24 miles. Geologically the basin
is located within the Western Trough. Eocene and Pegu Group
sediments found along the western hills and near Salingyi.
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LARGE AND SIGINFICIENT AQUIGERS IN CENTRAL MYANMAR
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Monywa Sub-basin:
- The alluvial plain of the Lower Chindwin is bounded to the
west by the Pale Sub-basin and east by the Kyaukka range
(150~375meters), to the south, the flats become swampy
near the confluence with the Ayeyarwady River in Budalin,
Monywa, and Chaung-U townships.
- Government (277 Tube wells up to 2016) and thousands of
private tube-wells and dug wells have been constructed.
- Total groundwater extraction: (53 to 120) Mm3 (Government)
67 Mm3 (Pprivate) for irrigation, mostly.
- Irrigation department has been operational for 30 years
- No hydrogeological monitoring has occurred since 1984.
- Water level decline is reported in some shallow aquifers, but
no overall decline is observed.
- It is important to do groundwater monitoring system to assess
how the best to manage the valuable aquifers.
- Low-salinity groundwater, suitable for crops
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The MGIP (see Box 3.5.2), initially constructed in 1982,
now provides irrigation for 6,100 ha (2016) from 141 deep
tubewells, 120 of which were operational in 2016. Total
annual extraction is in the order of 53 Mm3 from
government wells, with a further estimated 67 Mm3 from
private tubewells. Initial monitoring for 2 years after
construction (GDC, 1984) indicated no deterioration in
water level, quality or yield; monitoring then ceased for 33
years and has only recently recommenced (April 2017). It is
important that water level and groundwater extraction
monitoring continues to assess the impact of the MGIP on
the hydrogeological regime.
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HYDROGEOLOGY
OF
THE MONYWA SUB-BASIN
Two aquifers (Alluvium and
Irrawaddy Fm) Wider aquifer in
Monywa Region, Central Myanmar
(Source: Drury, 2017)
Groundwater yield average: 330 ML/day
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Monywa sub-basin
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Pale Sub-basin:
- Basin contains the 99 Ponds started from 1995 for Groundwater
Irrigation Project, lies within Yinmabin and Salingyi Townships, in the
Sagaing Region.
- The perennial North Yama Chaung and intermittent Nga Kon Yama
Chaung traverse west to east through the area.
- Drilling depth started from 100- 200 at the beginning period to 1000ft
at the current day. Hundred to thousand of tube wells are discharging
- Initial artesian flows up to 127Gal/min(80 L /Sec) with maximum
artesian pressure head of 15 m were recorded.
- Artesian well started from 1963.
- Aquifers:Kokkogon Fm; Ywatha and Aungban Fm
- From year 2000 artesian wells were steady decline in flow was 7% to
31% in 2016.and effective command area.
- By 2016, the potentiometric pressure in the Ywatha/Aungban Aquifer
had declined from 131 to 121 m AMSL, as a result of uncontrolled
groundwater flow because of zero effective water management
strategy.
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Predictive artesian flow in Yinmabin aquifer
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Pale Sub-basin (Continued):
- Number of tube wells: 417 (each of the 99 ponds
contains 3 to 5 artesian tube wells ) and 32 wells of 8
ponds (total 107 ponds) from Departments
- Over 1000 artesian wells from private farmers
- Irrigable lands: 3,300 ha from 107 ponds(2016)
- Piezometric surface: Above ground 2 to 12 m Artesian
flow (average 6 L/Sec)
- IWUMD groundwater extraction: Flow of 44.7 Mm3/yr.
- Private tube well extraction: 43.4 Mm3/yr.
- Total groundwater extraction: 96 Mm3/yr. (2016)
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HYDROGEOLOGY Ywatha / Aungban
OF / Kokkogon Aquifers
THE PALE-YINMABIN SUB-BASIN (Alluvium and Irrawaddy)
in Pale-Yinmabin TS,
Monywa Region
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Profile
of
the Pale
Yinmabin
Sub-basin
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HYDRO
GEOLOGY
OF
CEMTRAL
MYANMAR
Source:RWSD / Drury 1986
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GENERAL GRONDWATER QUALITY
- Groundwater quality would appear to be acceptable for
general purposes over large parts of the Central region
of Myanmar.
- It is generally of low to moderate salinity (typically
1,000 to 2,000 μScm-1), although brackish to saline
groundwater is found, in particular, in the Pegu aquifer.
- High levels of iron and manganese in the water
countrywide are common but this does not usually
constrain use.
- General groundwater quality and aquifers are in the
below slide:
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Aquifer Units Lithology Occurrence Quality
1.Alluvial Sands, silts, gravels Near major river Usually fresh
courses and tributaries
2.Irrawaddy Mainly sands, and Common throughout Usually fresh with
sandstones, with gravels, most of the Dry Zone high iron content
grits, and sandstones
3.Pegu Marine sandstone, shales, Western and central Mostly brackish or
and siltstones parts of the Dry Zone saline
4.Eocene Sandstones, Shale, and Mainly along foothills Unclear
clays of Western Ranges
5. Limestone carbonate minerals; Shan Plateau and Usually high
generally, calcite or/and Hardness; Calcium,
(Shan Plateau Tananthayi Region
dolomite magnesium content
and Mawlamine
are high
Limestone)
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GENERAL CONCEPT OF GROUNDWATER
- Chemical and biological characteristics of groundwater
is acceptable for most uses.
- The quality of groundwater in some parts of the
country, particularly shallow groundwater, is changing
as a result of human activities.
- The Irrawaddy and Alluvial groups constitute the
most important aquifers, supplying groundwater that
is of sufficient quality for both domestic, industry and
irrigation use. Suitable resources are less common in
areas underlain by Pegu and Eocene aquifers.
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[email protected] The total estimated groundwater potential in Myanmar is
49500 Mm3 and river basin-wise break up
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UTILIZATION OF GROUNDWATER (NATION-WIDE)
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Myanmar’s rural
water supply
mostly rely on
groundwater.
Map show the
population vs.
groundwater in
percentage in
regions.(Source - IWMI).
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GROUNDWATER PROBLEMS
• DEPLETION - OVER PUMPING
- Water level - drawdown
- Storage capacity
- DETERIORATION OF QUALITY
- Pollution, Contamination - organic, radioactive,
chemical
- Very difficult to clean up
• SOLUTIONS – TO CONTROL BY GOVERNMENT
- By law (Groundwater law)
(Groundwater Law is drafted (2018)
- Systematic Groundwater Management
- (Groundwater sector is uncontrolled, up to April2019)
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GROUNDWATER LEVEL DEPLETION (Greater Yangon)
Groundwater Water levels are dropping in 2017; compared with existing
hydrogeological monitoring data from 1992 are nearly 100% drop in Yangon
City
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ARSENIC IN GROUNDWATER
- The extent of arsenic contamination in the Nation-wide was not
well established. Data from WRUD, based on studies carried out
between 1952 and 2013, indicate that around 80% of 30,000
samples from Mandalay, Magway and Sagaing have arsenic
concentrations lower than the World Health Organization (WHO)
drinking water guideline value of 10 µg/L.
- However, more than 100,000 people in the region could
potentially be exposed to arsenic concentrations that exceed the
level of 10µg/L.
- The highest arsenic concentrations around 50 µg/L are from the
Ayeyarwady River sediments and Ayeyarwady Delta.
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Water Above 50 ppb of Ayeyarwaddy Region
Population
No. of tested Sample Population Sample Population
Sr State / Region Township (As>50µg/l)
sample (As≥10µg/l) (As≥10µg/l) (As>50µg/l) (As>50µg/l)
(%)
1 Ayeyarwaddy Kyonpyaw 19,301 6,931 83,177 2,392 29,931 21.07
2 Ayeyarwaddy Kyaungkone 6,996 3,484 50,034 1,508 20,874 14.69
3 Ayeyarwaddy Hinthada 23,999 5,995 61,846 1,725 18,885 13.29
4 Ayeyarwaddy Pantanaw 9,348 3,252 58,926 839 17,017 11.98
5 Ayeyarwaddy Yaykyi 9,587 2,300 41,148 529 10,578 7.45
6 Ayeyarwaddy Tharboung 4,088 1,041 19,987 562 10,385 7.31
7 Ayeyarwaddy Zalun 10,415 4,316 50,722 888 10,259 7.22
8 Ayeyarwaddy Danubyu 4,785 1,539 30,716 367 6,124 4.31
9 Ayeyarwaddy Nyaungdone 7,087 2,356 20,116 393 4,767 3.36
10 Ayeyarwaddy Ingapu 8,918 1,794 17,765 342 3,470 2.44
11 Ayeyarwaddy Ma U Bin 4,576 959 16,487 240 3,147 2.22
12 Ayeyarwaddy Laymyathnar 6,053 1,255 22,660 195 2,922 2.06
13 Ayeyarwaddy Kyeiklat 632 180 4,258 95 2,384 1.68
14 Ayeyarwaddy Kangyidaunk 3,696 436 5,944 73 1,205 0.85
15 Ayeyarwaddy Pathein 3,342 170 5,059 4 77 0.05
16 Ayeyarwaddy Myanaung 1,002 137 425 9 35 0.02
17 Ayeyarwaddy
May 2019Kyankin 137 33
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Salt water intrusion pattern @ HlaingThayar, Peninsula of
PanHlaing and Hlaing (Ngwe Thein and Myint Thein, 2001 )
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Salt water intrusion
pattern
in
Ayeyarwaddy Delta
Region
Myanmar
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SALT WATER INTRUSION
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Groundwater
System
contaminated
by
Sewage
Groundwater
System
contaminated
by
toxic waste
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TOXIC WASTE FROM LETPADAUNGTAUNG
LEAKGE TO SHALLOW GROUNDWATER LAYER
IN YINMABIN REGION
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SOLUTION:
Control Key:
- Law and Legislation
- Institution
- Perfect Technical Management
- Groundwater Control System
Now, Groundwater industry is lawless
Groundwater Law (draft) is on the way
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BASAL GROUNDWATER
- Fresh water is less dense than salt water,
therefore it will float on salt water
- The contact between the fresh ground water
and salt ground water is a brackish-water
- This transition zone is depressed below sea
level from the weight of the overlying fresh
water and the fresh water forms a lens-
shaped body (Ghyben-Herzberg Lens)
• This fresh ground water is called basal water,
and the lens-shaped body is called a basal
lens
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No rainfall
Rainfall,
unconfined
aquifer
Rrainfall,
confined aquifer
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RECHARGE AND DISCHARGE
- Recharge--water (rain) entering the aquifer
- Discharge--groundwater leaving the aquifer
but depth; basal lens stays same size
- If recharge > discharge, water table rises and basal lens
will grow
- If recharge < discharge, water table falls and basal lens
will shrink
- Discharge can be increased artificially by pumping
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MAJOR FEATURES OF KART
TOPOGRAPHY
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Datdawtaung Cave (Limestone) in Kyauk-se,
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Kyauk Pyat Thut Pagoda (Mogok) Karst
Topography
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FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
- Groundwater should not be viewed as a single, sole-
source entity but as one component within a basin-wide
water management system.
- Groundwater Legislation and Regulations are essential
to manage groundwater extraction, monitoring,
management, funding, pollution, remediation, tube well
construction, drillers licensing and regulation
enforcement
- Should set-up Institution for groundwater management
by Governor and Professionalists
- Should form the “Groundwater & Wells Association“:
the association have to be available to all groundwater
practitioners
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THANKS
FOR
YOUR PAY ATTENSION
TO GET MY REPORT
Myint Thein,
Groundwater & wells Consultant (freelance)
Member of MGS
Member of California Groundwater Association
AG Member of NWRC, Myanmar
